Judge Speaks Out on High Court Woes

Chief Justice Kang Sin-wuk (62, ninth bar examination) said in an exclusive interview with Dong-A Ilbo on June 9, “It is worrisome if judges deliver verdicts that can cater to the taste of specific groups in order to get recommendations for chief justices. I can hardly say that such situation is not happening at the moment.” While having an interview at his office, Chief Justice Kang, who is slated to retire next month, strongly criticized the Korean society’s discord and confrontation, including the chief justice candidate recommendation system. The current chief justice’s interview with the media is a rare event.

Chief Justice Kang said “It is also problematic for some groups to make public the slate of chief justice candidates. It is time to consider whether it is desirable to go through the process of an external recommendation and advisory committee.” He expressed his concerns, saying, “There is a trend in which judges are pandering to the propensity and ideology of those groups to receive recommendation for Chief Judges.”

Chief Justice Kang also pointed out, “Our society has seen the increased human rights awareness through political ups and downs and the economic growth. However, in the process, the rifts are deepening in our society. The past saw only regional conflict, but now discord in class, ideology, labor and management, and even among teachers is underway.”

Kang added, “In a democratic society, some level of conflict and confrontation are not very bad. But the problem is that we failed to learn lessons from them and we are just antagonizing each other. There are some forces who are trying to influence rulings by verbally attacking the rulings they didn’t agree to.”

He emphasized, “Democracy should be on the foundation of temperance and tolerance. Democracy cannot succeed when we don’t try to understand others who have different thoughts and incriminate them as culprits in history.”

Referring to when the political cycle argued for the closure of the constitutional court and criticized the judicature right after the constitutional court declared the special law on a new administrative capital unconstitutional in 2004, Kang said, “It is very wrong for politicians, the so-called social leaders, to emotionally insist on removing the constitutional court or criticize a certain chief justice. It is tantamount to an act of denying the judicial order.”

He said considering that some media and civic groups are criticizing the inclination of the Supreme Court. “What is the standard of dividing the conservative, centrist and liberal? I cannot agree in saying that the conservative are fat-headed freaks and the progressive are reformist.”

Kang added “None of 13 chief justices are for poison pills in the National Security Law. About 90% of them are centrists.”

woogija@donga.com needjung@donga.com